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Joglaresa's musical style allows improvisational and ornamental freedom to all
members of the ensemble, as you will hear on many of these tracks. Each of the
Latin hymns is found in various European sources and Joglaresa has decided to
pronounce them in an Italian style because most of the vernacular songs are in
Italian. Some pieces do not have extant melodies so the medieval technique of
contrafactum has been applied and other well- known melodies of the time used.
Director Belinda Sykes is an international concert and recording soloist. She
studied voice and improvisation in Morocco, Bulgaria, Syria, Spain and India;
oboe and recorder at the Guildhall School of Music. She has performed/recorded
with Red Byrd, New London Consort, Tragicomedia, Harp Consort, Paul O'Dette,
Ensemble Unicorn, Sarband, Dufay Collective and Oni Wytars and is Professor of
Medieval Song at Trinity College of Music. As an oboist she has played for the
Gabrieli Consort, English Concert, King's Consort, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Age
of Enlightenment and Hanover Band, and has collaborated with many composers
including Sir Harrison Birtwistle.
Joglaresa is a well-established medieval music ensemble and are leaders in the
improvisational and cross-cultural aspects of their repertoire. They won an Arts
Council of England Early Music Award for their Hebrew/Arabic/Spanish programme
Al 'Andalus, and received great critical acclaim for their Crusades programme
The Scimitar and the Sword, which represents the voices of Judaism and Islam
alongside the Christian viewpoint. Their first album of Judeo-Spanish songs
Ballads of Love and Betrayal was released in 2002 (Village Life 010130 VL).
Performances include the opening concert at the Aldeburgh Festival and the
closing concert at York Early Music Festival; the Queen Elizabeth Hall (London),
Brezice Early Music Festival (Slovenia), Istanbul, Amsterdam International
Festival of Jewish Music; tours in Germany, Italy and Holland. Broadcasts
include BBC Radio 3, 4, and World Service; German, Dutch and Slovenian radio.
